


Fire and Water

by SerasKucheki



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Inspired by Avatar: The Last Airbender, M/M, Past Child Abuse, Past Steve Harrington/Nancy Wheeler, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-14
Updated: 2020-04-14
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:42:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,563
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23657050
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SerasKucheki/pseuds/SerasKucheki
Summary: Steve Harrington decides that he wants to get some experience with other nations and other people before he’s stuck with royalty obligations. He heads to the United Republic of Nations thinking it would be a simple trip until he runs into a hot headed firebender named Billy Hargrove.
Relationships: Billy Hargrove/Steve Harrington
Comments: 8
Kudos: 60





	Fire and Water

**Author's Note:**

> I promised I would write this about the time I saw Zayac on Tumblr and Twitter drawing Waterbender Steve and Firebender Billy. It just took a little bit more time than I would have liked and it also ended up being longer than I expected but it's finally done! With a lot of help from my best friend and beta Melodramasalad, also here on AO3 and Twitter. I hope you guys enjoy it!

Steve Harrington knew it was childish for him to leave the North Pole but he was getting tired of his parents still pushing the idea of him getting married to Nancy Wheeler when they both came to them to explain that they didn’t agree with the engagement. He made no attempt to make a necklace for her or do any of the other traditions that the North still did for marriages because he didn’t want to force Nancy when she liked someone else. He did genuinely like her when they first met and started hanging out but she just never liked him as much and that was okay. No matter what he said to his parents though it wasn’t changing their mind. His father also had a habit of telling him over and over the responsibilities that he had to the tribe and why he should listen to him

In his mind, the best thing he could do for their tribe was to get out and see some of the world. They were one of the few civilizations that didn’t keep in constant contact with the United Republic of Nations and hardly ever had any visitors that weren’t from the South Pole. Steve had already asked several times about going to the United Republic and was turned down each time. Now that he was a master in waterbending he saw no reason for him to be stuck here. He was able to buy a boat and supplies all within a few hours so he could leave the North Pole before his parents found out what he was doing.

Steve was glad that the person he got the boat from actually knew how long it would take to get to the United Republic because by the time he got there, he was nearly out of supplies and itching to get off the boat. While he loved the water for many reasons aside from waterbending, he was still anxious for a fresh change of scenery. Thankfully for Steve, there was a place that allowed him to safely store his boat while he explored the market for more supplies. He was also keeping an eye out for a place to stay, knowing full well he planned on being there for at least a week. Due to having little else to do on the boat, he’d passed the time by counting his money over and over again. He had done it enough times that he was sure he had brought more than enough along with him. At least he hoped he did as he continued shopping for what he needed and tried to put the idea of running out of money aside for now.

Billy Hargrove was also walking through the market looking around for something entertaining to do, whether it was a person or something going on that he could join in on. His main goal was to stay away from the house and possibly find somewhere else to spend the night. Things at home weren’t terrible, but there were just some nights he didn’t want to deal with it. For that reason, he was hoping that he could find something to occupy his time for the night. When he turned a corner, he noticed someone that he had definitely not seen before. The stranger was dressed like some of the waterbenders in the city but the material looked of higher quality. With Billy’s upbringing, he could easily tell the finer materials from the cheaper ones. Another tell was that based on all the supplies the stranger was buying, Billy could see that they were new to the city. Based on his looks, he definitely was the perfect person to distract Billy for the night; the stranger was a pretty boy. Billy smirked a little and began to walk over to the pretty boy before he noticed four firebenders coming his way. His smirk quickly faded as he crossed his arms and stood still, waiting to see if they were going to talk to him or just keep walking by. Luck wasn’t on his side as they purposely stood in front of him, blocking his view so now his chances of entertaining himself with the pretty boy that had captured his interest were gone.

”Hargrove, right?” asked the one directly in front of him with a wide grin on his features.

It really didn’t take much for Billy to know exactly what kind of trouble the men were going to be. There had been other firebenders who knew why the Hargroves were no longer considered nobles and not allowed back at the Fire Nation Capital, many who had approached him here but none of them had this particular smug look on their faces. “Yeah, I am. I didn’t realize it was that difficult to figure out who I was.”

The firebender’s eye twitched as he lost some of his smile but he still felt confident enough to keep going. “I just wanted to see if your anger is just like your father’s. It’s the only thing that makes sense as to why a coward would let _it_ happen.”

Billy expected a lot of things but for him to accuse Billy of all the years Neil abused his mother was way off based. He was a victim then and was still currently one of Neil’s abuse, so it wasn’t logical and yet the only abuse anyone cared about was his mother’s. It hurt, but it didn’t hurt as much as when he had tried to convince his mom to keep him, to stop them from letting Neil take him away and she ignored him. He took a slow breath closing his eyes to try and keep himself calm, not wanting to cause a ruckus that Neil would inevitably find out and punish him for later. “I can’t change what you want to believe, even when it’s wrong, so why are you really here? I’d like to enjoy the rest of my day without being surrounded by morons.”

”Do you really think we’ll just let you go by?” asked one of the other firebenders as the last two circled around Billy.

”I do think so. I’m not willing to pick a fight, especially when I know there won’t be much of one.” he stated, keeping his breathing even as he got ready for them to make the first strike. He knew it wouldn’t matter in the long run, since he was still in the middle of the trouble but at least to him, he knew he didn’t start it. When they first moved here, he started a lot of fights and gained a reputation not to be messed with. After a while, no one else was willing to fight him, and so he didn’t get involved in fights very often. That’s how he knew that as much as he tried to avoid this fight, it was going to happen no matter what.

The firebender that was behind Billy took a quick stance and tried to get the first shot by shooting a fireball at Billy’s back. Billy was able to sidestep and quickly turned around to knock his arm to the side before punching at his gut. The firebender coughed as the air left his lungs and he fell to the ground, covering his middle. The first firebender that talked to him quickly moved in to throw as many attacks as he could aiming to unbalance Billy who kept dodging, deflecting, and not yet using any fire for an attack.

Just like everyone else around the fight, Steve’s attention was quickly pulled away from the stall and toward the firebenders. He didn’t really think a fight would break out in public like this, and even though he should be like the other civilians quickly leaving the area, he stuck around. If there was one thing he knew about firebending, even without experiencing it yet, was how easy things could get out of control. Steve set his bag down beside the stall he was at before moving a little closer and opening up his water skin just in case it got out of control

The fight quickly got more intense and instead of having just one person attack him, the four firebenders were doing their best to get him. Billy finally began to firebend and it didn’t take him long to start getting the upper hand. His movements were careful, well thought out for someone going against four people. He had a strong stance every time he landed from a jump or dodge and his firebending was almost stronger than theirs. Steve couldn’t look away, it was quite mesmerizing to watch the four firebenders desperately trying to get one good attack in and each time it was thwarted. He was certain that the group didn’t realize how outmatched they would be when they started this fight with how much control the one firebender had and how much stronger his attacks were with minimal effort. Definitely the sign of a firebender master.

Billy could tell the firebenders were getting angry as their fires began to get more out of control. He couldn’t stop the fire but he could stop the firebenders. He took a deep breath before stepping in close and punched with a fist of fire to knock down one. Another deep breath and he crouched down to sweep his leg to make a fire circle and knock down two more of his opponents. As he was getting back to his feet the first one sent a fireball at Billy’s back. He didn’t have any time to dodge or realize what was happening until he felt the heat. Billy yelled out a curse and quickly turned around to throw a fireball at the man to watch a stream of water hit him on the side of the head. He fell to the ground knocked out and behind him was the pretty boy.

Steve slowly bended the water back into his water skin and looked up at Billy, who was trying to quickly catch his breath. “You looked like you needed some help.” he smiled at Billy, noticing how the last firebender got in a direct hit and hoped he wasn’t too badly burned.

Billy scoffed as he tried to cross his arms and winced at the pain in his back. “I didn’t need your help.”

”Maybe you didn’t want my help, but you got it anyway.” Steve smiled wider, crossing his arms as he looked at the group on the ground. “So, what was this fight about anyway?”

”Nothing important.” Billy answered quickly not wanting to talk about it and moved to take off the remnant of his shirt since it got destroyed in the fight.

Steve looked over his chest noticing some old burns that were definitely not accidental, the burns were too perfect. “I saw the last guy get in a good hit. I can help you with that if you want it.” he smirked at him.

Billy narrowed his eyes looking him over slowly. “Oh really? How’s that?”

”For a firebender living in the United Republic, you really don’t know much about other nations. There are Waterbenders that can learn how to heal and you’re looking at one of them.” Steve explained picking up his bag. “If you want me to heal you, you have to say something now.”

Billy pursed his lips not speaking up right away and watched as Steve shrugged before turning away. He hissed as a throb of pain went through his back and he cursed under his breath. “Fine!” he snapped as he frowned.

Steve turned back around to face Billy, the smirk still on his face. It was obvious he didn’t like asking for help, but he wasn’t going to go easy on him either. “Fine?”

”You’re a brat, Pretty Boy.” Billy glared at him for a few seconds before his face softened. “I’d like it if you could help me out with my back, please.”

”My name is Steve, and we should find somewhere else to do this. Unless you want to be around when these guys wake up.” Steve pointed out to Billy.

Billy nodded at that and motioned for Steve to follow so he could take him to a place not too far away with a bench. “What do I have to do?” he asked Steve as he sat down on the bench.

”Sit still, it’ll be over quicker than you’d think, they don’t look like serious burns.” Steve assured Billy sitting down next to him and opened up his water skin before covering his hands with the water. Steve placed them gently over the burns and slowly moved his hand as the burns disappeared. Billy winced slightly when he first put his hands on his back and could feel the pain lessening. It was strange and incredibly soothing at the same time. Now that Steve was closer to Billy’s torso he found himself looking over the burns he noticed earlier. He wasn’t used to seeing burns and by studying them closer up he could tell they were about hand sized. “How old are these other burns?” he asked Billy knowing that by his teachings he couldn’t get rid of them unless he had the water from the Oasis back home.

Billy tensed up and turned his head just enough to look back at Steve. “Are we done here?” he asked, not in the mood to stick around.

Steve didn’t need anymore clarification that he had crossed the line by asking about it and pulled his hands away. “Yeah, you’re all healed.”

”Great, I’ll probably see you around then.” grumbled Billy as he got up from the bench so he could head back home.

Steve quickly stood up, “Do I at least get to know your name?” he asked, hoping that he could run into him again because there was something about him that he found really interesting. Even so, he wouldn’t be too upset if the first person he held a conversation with outside of buying goods wanted nothing to do with him after this since he did try to ask a personal question.

Billy stopped and sighed a little before turning back to Steve. “Billy.” he answered before walking away.

Steve nodded and picked up his bag to find a place he could stay while he was here in the city. He should have enough goods to last him for a while and maybe if he was lucky again, he might run into Billy and convince him to give him a tour.

When Billy got home, he didn’t look anywhere else besides right in front of him until he got to his room. If Neil was here he’d know within a few minutes and if he wasn’t then at least he’d have some time to smoke. Billy gave it a few minutes before getting his supplies out to get his pipe ready and lighting it up. He really didn’t understand why a random person would interfere with the fight, let alone offer to heal him afterward with no question about why he was fighting in the first place. Then again, he might have tried asking that if he stuck around long enough but he got too nosy about the wrong thing first. Billy looked down at himself and slowly traced the burns with his free hand as he continued to smoke. He didn’t believe that old wounds could be healed or no one would ever have a scar, even if it would be nice to have them gone.

Just as he was finishing up his pipe, he could hear everyone else coming home and set it down, out of the way before Neil would think about breaking it again. He didn’t bother to get off his bed and shot a glare at the door when someone knocked. “Billy, open up.” demanded Neil.

Billy sighed heavily and got up to open the door slightly. “What do you want?”

Neil narrowed his eyes and forced the door the rest of the way open. Billy took a step back not backing down or trying to look worried. The last thing he wanted to do, even though it could happen so quickly, was to show Neil weakness. “You know exactly what I want. I want to know why you had to cause trouble. I thought we were past this after the last discussion we had.”

”I didn’t cause any trouble, they wanted to fight me.” he explained keeping his eyes locked onto Neil’s.

”It doesn’t fucking matter to me who started it. You caused trouble, there was some destruction to the stalls around the area and they’re wanting compensation for their wounds.” snapped Neil crossing his arms and watching Billy closely.

Billy took a shaky breath but other than that he didn’t look away, his body didn’t shake and his voice was remarkably calm as he spoke up again. “Bruises and a wounded pride doesn’t need any money. Just tell them to fuck off.”

Neil stepped up to Billy and the heat in the room began to rise and Billy immediately regretted at least not putting a shirt back on before Neil got home. He raised a hand up and set it on Billy’s shoulder. Billy tensed and barely kept himself from pulling away from Neil even as he could feel the temperature on his shoulder get warmer and smoke come off Neil’s hand. “Don’t make me remind you about how to speak and act.” he warned him before pulling away and leaving Billy’s room.

Billy placed his hand over his shoulder just to make sure that he wasn’t injured as he sat down feeling his body shake a little. He reached for the pipe again to quickly refill it and smoke again to calm himself down.

The next day, Steve decided to take the time to look around the city. It was different in the morning than in the afternoon when he arrived and found it amazing to watch how many different people lived here. He couldn’t really tell who were benders by just looking through the crowd other than the few that used it to help someone, do their job or just happen to be bending while he passed. There were some people dressed in nation specific clothes but he knew better than to assume that all of them were benders. He did his best to stay away from people dressed with water nation clothes since he didn’t want anyone making a big deal about him being here. Steve knew that there were frequent visitors to the United Republic from the Northern Water Tribe and he would like to keep where he went a secret for a little longer.

As he walked around, he was beginning to feel a little lost from where his living space was, but he soon recognized a voice coming from around the corner. He followed the voice that preceded heavy sounds and as he rounded the corner the last thing he expected was Billy standing a few feet from a teenager with red hair lifting a small boulder above her head. Steve raised an eyebrow and didn’t try to get any closer for now, wanting to see what was going on.

Billy watched her finally manage to get the boulder over her head. “Now throw it as far as you can.” he ordered. The earthbender closed her eyes tightly and tried throwing the boulder. It only went about five feet but it was still farther than her last attempt. She smiled a little and looked over at Billy. He only nodded and pointed to the boulder. “Do it again.”

”Come on Billy! I’ll never get any better at earthbending if all I do is one thing a week.” she protested, hating that her mom couldn’t afford an actual earthbender for a teacher and that Billy could really only tell her what he’s seen others do.

”I’m not an earthbender Max, and I already told you that before you convinced me to help you out. You just have to walk around and watch earthbenders and practice.” he reminded her at least getting one good piece of information out of an earthbender. “Just remember that the basics to earthbending is heavily rooted stances and strong blows to endure attacks until an opportunity to counterattack reveals itself.”

Max huffed and crossed her arms. “I already know that and if you weren’t so nasty to everyone, you might have more people to ask.”

Billy narrowed his eyes at her, “Excuse me?”

”Nothing!” she snapped and quickly walked over to the boulder so she could lift it again.

Billy sighed and held out his hand to start a flame on his forefinger before slowly transferring it from finger to finger before coming to rest in the middle of his palm. “Listen, Max...I know it fucking sucks not to have a proper teacher but you face everything head on which is a good start to earthbending. For firebending, it’s all about breathing. Just keep being the Mad Max I know you are.”

Max smiled a little and turned to face Billy. “Thanks, Billy.” she stated before finally noticing Steve in the distance watching them. “Who’s that?”

Billy frowned a little and turned around as the fire engulfed his whole fist ready to fight if it was the group from yesterday only to see Steve. He flicked his hand letting the fire extinguish and turned back to Max. “Nobody.”

Max raised an eyebrow at his answer and how Steve began to walk over to them anyway. “If you say so.” she shrugged lifting the boulder above her head so she could try throwing it again.

Steve walked up next to Billy and looked between him and Max. “Is she your sister?” he asked.

”No, she’s not my sister.” Billy answered, crossing his arms again.

Steve smiled a little at that, focusing on watching Max as she was able to pick the boulder up a little easier the next time. “Well, whatever she is to you, you’re doing a pretty neat thing helping her out with bending when you’re a firebender.” he pointed out to him.

Billy scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Why are you here?” he asked, not wanting to hear any compliments when it wasn’t like Max could ever master earthbending with just him giving her advice.

”Talkative as always.” chuckled Steve. “I wanted to make sure that you didn’t feel any more pain from yesterday.”

”I’m doing just fine.” Billy assured him, noticing how Max was still working on picking up and throwing the boulder but also moving a lot slower and sticking close. He narrowed his eyes not wanting her to find out about everything that happened yesterday besides him getting into a fight.

”Good...I’m also sorry for asking about your older burns yesterday.” he apologized hoping that Billy wouldn’t get upset about it again and leave.

Billy sighed a little and finally looked over at Steve. “Just stop bringing it up.”

Steve held up his hands and nodded. “Note taken.” He watched Max as she barely made any attempt to pick up the boulder that time around, obviously trying to eavesdrop but not doing a very good attempt at hiding it. “I was hoping that you might show me around the town.”

”Just because you helped me out yesterday, that doesn’t mean I’m going to help you out.” he pointed out to him and shot a glare over at Max so she knew to stop trying to listen in on their conversation.

”I figured there was no harm in asking but I can understand if you’re busy or just don’t want to.” he assured him not going to take it to heart because they barely knew each other and Billy was a lot more guarded than most people he came across.

”You should give him a tour! It’s not like you’re doing anything tonight.” smirked Max, leaning against the boulder and no longer caring about hiding the fact that she was listening the whole time.

Billy glared harshly at Max and pointed behind him with his thumb. “Time to go home.”

Max frowned and stood up straight. “I’m not tired yet.”

”Too fucking bad, we’re going home.” he stated not going to change his mind just because Max wanted to get nosy about his life.

”Fine.” she snapped and stormed past Billy to start heading home.

Steve felt bad that he was most likely the cause that her training session got cut off short and moved in front of Billy when he tried to leave. “I can just go and you can continue her training.” he suggested.

Billy shook his head, “She’s the one that screwed it up.”

”I get that but-” Steve started to argue, thinking that it would be better if he just forgot about it and let her keep trying.

Billy narrowed his eyes and purposely shoved his shoulder into him as he walked by Steve. “Fuck off, Pretty boy.” he warned before following after Max to go home.

Steve sighed as he watched Billy and Max leave, wondering if he should keep trying to talk to him. If he wasn’t careful, he might end up making an enemy out of Billy instead and that was the last thing he wanted to do. He waited a few minutes after they turned the corner before he began to find his way back home.

The two were quiet the rest of the way home but as they walked into the house Max turned on Billy. “It’s not going to kill you to be nice to someone.” she pointed out to him. Billy rolled his eyes heading to his room to close the door and get his pipe ready to smoke. “Just try it for once!” she yelled through his door before going to her own room.

Billy continued to ignore her even as the night continued and only responded to her when Neil was around. He spent most of the night smoking and ignoring how quickly he was going through his stash of tobacco and how he’d have to buy more tomorrow. Even if he wanted to play nice and act like he wanted to be friends with Steve, it was better just to let it go. He did consider having a little bit of fun with him but now with Max knowing that he existed, he needed to create some distance. It wouldn’t take long for someone to see Steve and Billy hanging out for them to relay that information to Neil and he didn’t want to deal with Neil’s quick to judge reaction to it. Life was just a lot simpler when he didn’t have anyone to care or worry about.

Steve felt like he had a good handle on the city around the area that he was living by the time afternoon came about the next day. He kept thinking about Billy off and on not entirely sure why but he did have some hope that he could run into him at some point. At least he knew a little bit more about him, even if he didn’t want to admit that Max was his sister. It didn’t bother him either that Billy threatened him, it was kind of a nice change of pace compared to how everyone always did their best to keep him happy at home. He went to the bay, hoping that he could find a nice quiet place just to work on his waterbending. When he did get there, he spotted a familiar red head along with two boys he had yet to meet. The three of them were messing around in the water, Max mostly splashing one of the boys while the other one was trying to bend it.

Steve raised an eyebrow watching him trying to move the water but it was barely budging and he could see that his stance was barely correct and his movements were too stiff. He walked up to the group and didn’t gain their attention until he spoke up. “Hey, do you want some help with your waterbending?” he asked him.

The waterbender jumped a bit while Max and the other kid stopped goofing around to focus on Steve. “Hey, it’s you!” she exclaimed moving to get out of the water.

”Yeah, it’s me.” he nodded with a raise of an eyebrow.

”You know him?” asked the other kid as he climbed out of the water.

Max shook her head as she walked straight up to him. “We technically never met but I know Billy knows him. What’s your name?”

”Steve.” he answered making sure to leave out his last name.

”How would you help me with waterbending?” interjected the kid that was trying to waterbend before he spoke up.

Steve smiled a little at that and spread out his legs before bending a stream of water out of the bay. He brought it around his body, shifting his weight through each movement and then made the water go over each of their heads before letting it go and drenched all of them earning cries of protests. “Because I’m a waterbender, a master waterbender actually.” he smirked a little standing up straight with his hands on his hips.

The waterbender was the first to recover and smiled at him. “Can you teach me? My name is Dustin and there’s not a lot of waterbenders that I know that are willing to teach.” he explained hoping that he wouldn’t change his mind.

”We barely even know him! Why are you going to trust him?” asked the other kid in disbelief.

Max rolled her eyes, “Stop complaining Lucas, Steve isn’t a bad guy or Billy would have acted more friendly toward him.”

Lucas frowned a little at that, “Yeah, but Billy still knew him first so shouldn’t that be more than enough to question him?”

”I don’t care, he’s the first waterbender to offer his help and I’m taking him up on it.” stated Dustin and immediately walked closer to the water. “Show me how to do what you just did!”

Steve was glad that at least two of them trusted him enough to stick around, but he didn’t blame Lucas for being cautious. He really did just want to help Dustin and it would give him a chance to still waterbend. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to hurt you guys or anything. I came here to practice and just mess around myself.” he assured Lucas going over to the water. “First of all, you were too stiff, you need to let your body flow through the stances just like how water flows.” he started and began to push and pull the water, making sure to move slow enough so that he could see the proper technique.

Dustin nodded and immediately stood at the edge like Steve and began to move his arms and his body through the stance, having a much easier time to push and pull the water. “Holy shit…” he smiled widely and began trying to push and pull more of the water to create a small wave.

Steve definitely got swept away with teaching Dustin some basics and helping him out that time passed pretty quickly. He also talked with Max and Lucas, getting to know them a bit more, found out that Lucas wasn’t a bender and that they usually hung out together to pass time. Steve eventually took a break with the three kids, having fun listening to their stories and answering a few questions directed toward him and even though it was a gamble, he did tell them that he was from the Northern Water Tribe.

While they were talking and watching Dustin try out what he had learned today, Billy walked up to the group. He was hoping that he would stop running into Steve but apparently that wasn’t going to happen. He crossed his arms as he looked over the four of them. “You couldn’t find anything else to do?” he asked Steve.

Max jumped up first and turned around to face Billy. “You didn’t tell me he was a waterbender.” she frowned and crossed her arms as well.

”I didn’t think it was important at the time.” stated Billy rolling his eyes.

Steve stood up and smiled at Billy. “I came here to just get some time waterbending and came across them.” he answered Billy glad to see he wasn’t outright glaring at him like how they left each other yesterday.

Billy nodded slowly at that, “Sure, that’s exactly the reason.”

”It is, are you wanting to go right back home or do you have some time to hang out?” asked Steve, definitely remembering the threat from yesterday and not caring about it.

Billy stared at him, sizing Steve up and trying to figure out why he wasn’t backing off just like everyone else. He sighed a little and looked over at Max. “Don’t get into any trouble and start heading home.” he demanded.

Max normally would have argued or fought against him ordering her around but with how Billy was willing to hang out with Steve, she felt like she shouldn’t stop it? It was hard to explain but she did know this was the only time Billy had ever shown interest in somebody that he wasn’t busy fighting or outright hating every second he was around. “Fine.” she huffed still having to show some annoyance with being sent home earlier and grabbed Lucas’ wrist before pulling him after her.

”Can you teach me some more tomorrow?” asked Dustin really wanting to keep learning from Steve.

Steve smiled a little at that and shrugged. “Maybe, I’ll have to see how the rest of my day goes.” Dustin didn’t really like the answer but he was lucky enough to already learn some from Steve so he nodded before following Max and Lucas. Steve turned back toward Billy with a wide smile. “So, any good places to hang out?”

Billy shrugged and began to walk toward some of the shops. “Depends on what you like to do.”

”I know the city a little bit but mostly around the area that I’m renting.” he pointed out to Billy really having no idea which places were the best and have so far just ate in with the things he had bought from the market the first day.

”Renting? So you’re really only here for a little while?” he asked him looking over at Steve and wondered if he could go back to his first idea when he spotted him at the market.

Steve nodded at that looking at the food vendors and shops. He really did want to try some of the food here since it was all different from what he had at home. “Yeah, I don’t plan on staying long since I live far away and only came here to help learn more about other nations.” he explained.

Billy raised an eyebrow at that, “Why would anyone care about other nations? Are you going to be a chief, president or someone higher up that makes decisions for a city?”

”What? No.” lied Steve shaking his head and nearly tripped over himself as he tried to walk a bit faster like that would somehow steer the conversation away from that topic. He barely caught himself and didn’t even try to look at Billy to see his reaction before heading to the food vendor right next to him.

”Sure.” he nodded definitely not believing that answer and wondered if he was a strong waterbender with how he just almost tripped over nothing. Billy walked up next to him to see which food the vendor sold. “Are you just learning to walk?” he asked not going to let him get away with that without some teasing.

Steve groaned a little, “Fuck off.”

Billy smirked at him and lightly nudged his shoulder. “I don’t think I will, Pretty Boy.”

”Why do you call me that?” Steve asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

Billy’s smirk widened and he licked his lips slowly at him before stepping up to the vendor. “I’ll take four corn dogs.”

Steve was really confused when he licked his lips at him and it wasn’t just because of the action itself but how he found it kind of hot. He shook his head and only snapped out of it when he saw Billy paying for the food. “You didn’t have to do that.” he stated even as Billy handed two of them over.

”Don’t worry about it.” Billy assured him before beginning to eat his food.

”Thanks.” Steve said softly and began to eat as they walked down the road.

”If you’re not here training to be a chief or whatever, then why are you studying the other nations?” Billy asked, definitely fine with asking Steve questions but not the other way around.

Steve slowly swallowed the bite he had in his mouth, thinking about how he should answer. “I’ve never left my home and only know about the other nations through books, stories or by the people that rarely visit. I made enough money to come here myself and get away for awhile.”

Billy nodded at that, not really blaming him for wanting to get away if he had never left before. He missed the Fire capital because it felt more like home than this place did, but he knew he couldn’t return. Even if he didn’t go with Neil, it was obvious from those four idiots a few days ago that nobody was going to let them forget what happened to his mom. He suddenly wished that he had brought his pipe as he continued to eat his corn dog and looked over at Steve tearing off a big piece of the corn dog before shoving it in his mouth. Billy paused and raised an eyebrow as he watched Steve slowly chew through the bite of food and realized that Billy had stopped walking. “You’re strange.”

”I’m not as strange as you. Trying so hard for that bad guy look when your freckles ruin it immediately.” he smirked before shoving the rest of the corn dog into his mouth.

Billy narrowed his eyes a little but smirked as well. “Alright, correction then, you’re a brat.”

Steve shrugged as he threw away the sticks. “Not like you’d really know since just yesterday you were warning me about backing off.”

”Well maybe you’re not that terrible to be around.” stated Billy throwing away his trash.

”You’re still in the gray.” teased Steve with a smirk as he continued walking down the road.

Billy narrowed his eyes a little glad that Steve’s back was to him because he liked that Steve gave it back to him as much as he dealt out and smirked a little as he walked faster to catch up. “So, you’re a waterbender master?” he asked him.

Steve nodded at that, “Yeah, I had to work pretty hard especially when it came to my healing since only the women are ever really taught it.”

”Why did you bother learning it then?” Billy asked, glad that he had the courage to go against tradition but he also didn’t see any practical use for healing. It wasn’t like he could ever hope to heal with his own firebending since the only part of it that wasn’t meant to harm was redirecting lightning, which could easily turn against him and was the reason why he liked to be on the offensive.

”I wanted to know everything that I could about waterbending.” Steve shrugged, not bothering to look up at Billy as he focused on where he was walking instead. “I know there’s really no reason to worry about being in a fight but having a healer on hand to take care of wounds helps out more than trying to wait for them to get back to the healers.”

Billy nodded a little at that, “I can see the pros with that.” He kind of wished he did have Steve or someone he could have gone to when he got his own burns. He really wished that he could say that bad memory still didn’t affect him in the present but it did and so did everything else Neil had done to him since his mom left them. “The main con out of that thought process is you care too much about other people.”

Steve raised an eyebrow looking over at him. “There’s nothing wrong with caring about other people.”

”Yeah there is.” Billy argued before coming to a halt.

”Give me three good reasons why I shouldn’t care about others.” demanded Steve only noticing that Billy had stopped walking after he realized that someone was in front of them. Steve turned to look at them and furrowed his eyebrows a bit not too sure who this was.

Neil was walking home and noticed that Billy was walking around with a waterbender. It was obvious that he didn’t listen to what he told him to do and he was ready to remind Billy about their conversation about respect and responsibility. “You’re supposed to be watching your sister, Maxine. Not having a night on the town.” he frowned, already having suspicions about Billy and narrowed his eyes as he looked over Steve.

Billy knew he wouldn’t do anything here but if he didn’t leave now, then it would only be worse by the time they got home. “I already made sure she got home safely.”

”I highly doubt that.” he frowned and tilted his head toward home. “Go home, now. We need to talk.”

Steve watched the exchange, not appreciating it when the person that was most likely Billy’s dad looked him over and even though he barely knew Billy he could still tell something was off. He didn’t seem as confident with what he was saying to help back up the little lie that he told although he knew that Max would have gotten home safely with her friends anyway. She also seemed old enough not to need a babysitter all day every day so he agreed with Billy on that. He wondered if he spoke up and explained why Billy wasn’t with Max if that would help him but the moment he tried to open his mouth Billy spoke up again.

”Fine, I’ll go back home with you.” he agreed with Neil quickly glancing at Steve before walking up to Neil to try and block Steve from his view.

Neil smiled a little and pat the same shoulder he had threatened him with before. “Good, let’s go.”

Steve didn’t try to speak up when the two of them began walking away but he felt like he shouldn’t just let it go either. There had to be something he could do to help because everything about that conversation didn’t sit right with him. He cursed under his breath knowing that Billy would get pissed when he found out that he followed them. He couldn’t help it that there was something about Billy that attracted his attention and he already found him caring about the wrong vibe he was getting from his dad. _It doesn’t matter if he gets pissed, I just want to make sure he’s going to be okay._

Billy and Neil, didn’t speak once the whole time they went home and when they got inside Billy went straight to his room. “Where do you think you’re going?” asked Neil shutting the front door a little harder than necessary behind him.

”To my room.” Billy answered with a shrug, knowing he shouldn’t piss Neil off anymore than he already apparently did, but it was a stupid reason for him to be angry anyway, like all the other times. Max poked her head out of the room when she heard the door right as Billy was walking by and he just shook his head at her. “Just like I told you, she made it home safely because she’s not a kid.” he pointed out to Neil having no idea why he was making things worse. “What’s so bad about helping out a tourist around town?”

Neil followed Billy into his room and watched Billy turn around to face him trying to hold onto what confidence he had. “That’s not the reason we’re having this discussion. I told you to watch her, it was your responsibility and I trusted you to do that. Instead, I find you running around town, and ignoring me.”

Billy sighed and looked around his room hating how long he was drawing this out. “Sure, I was definitely ignoring you by walking around town all day. It’s not my responsibility to know what she’s doing all day long, she’s home safe and on time. I don’t see anything wrong with me having some time to myself.” he explained before noticing something out his window. He furrowed his eyebrows as the shadow stopped moving just enough for the light to show that it was Steve, fucking Steve. No reason to be there aside from being nosy and yet here he was.

”Don’t look away from me when I’m talking with you.” snapped Neil, glancing to see what could have distracted Billy, but by the time he looked out the window, Steve had ducked down. Neil glared as he turned back toward Billy and quickly shoved him against the wall. The temperature in the room began to rise but not only from Neil.

Billy didn’t want Steve to be there, he already hated it enough that Susan and Max saw what Neil did and how he just let him, the last thing he needed was for someone outside of this shit family to know. His voice still caught in his throat as he tried to think of what to say so Steve could understand that he didn’t want him there but not to make Neil more paranoid about what caught his eye. “Get out.” he finally spoke up and it wasn’t really the words he was thinking. It worked for both of them but there was no real hard conviction behind his voice and he could see the anger spike in Neil’s eyes.

”You don’t get to decide when I’m done with you.” he stated as he raised his hand and Billy expected it to be engulfed in flames but Neil just stuck him across the face. Billy bit back any noise of pain as he slowly turned to face Neil again. “If you think I’m going to let my son be a little faggot over focusing on his family then you really don’t remember what we talked about.” he warned finally letting his hand be engulfed in flame before getting dangerously close to Billy’s side, where one of the burns were. “Now, do I need to repeat myself?”

Billy didn’t respond right away and Neil moved his other hand to Billy’s collarbone so his hand was close to his neck. “Respect and responsibility.” he finally answered getting frustrated with himself that his eyes were starting to water. He didn’t like feeling this weak and wished that his body would just fucking move or do something to get away from Neil.

”Good.” nodded Neil slowly pulling away from him. “Now, you will listen to me when I tell you to do something from now on, correct?”

Billy took a slow breath keeping his eyes focused on only Neil’s. “Yes, sir.” he said softly.

Neil tilted his head and took a step back, his hand still on fire. “I didn’t hear you.”

Billy swallowed the lump in his throat before speaking louder. “Yes, sir.”

”If I see you with that waterbender again, I will repeat my lesson.” he threatened Billy letting the fire extinguish before leaving the room.

Billy squeezed his eyes shut, letting the few tears that welled up fall before remembering Steve at his window. He hit his hand back against the wall and then went over to the window to look out. Steve was busy trying to climb the wall next to the house so he could get away and act like he didn’t see everything even though he couldn’t help it. He knew there were all different types of people but in the Northern Water Tribe he had never heard of family members beating other family members. “Steve.” growled Billy causing Steve to whip his head back toward him.

”Hi?” Steve asked, losing his balance and falling back to the ground.

”You’re dead.” Billy glared at him as he moved to get out through the window.

Steve quickly jumped back to his feet. “Wait, I didn’t mean to see everything. I was just worried-”

”And I already told you that you shouldn’t care about others, especially me.” interrupted Billy and when he was finally out of the window, his hands quickly lit up with flames.

”You’re not...serious about fighting, are you?” Steve asked Billy, not seeing the flames die down or the anger in his face subside. “Fuck.” he cursed not expecting things to go this way but since he did hear everything, he knew it would be better if he got away from the house. Steve turned around and took off down the street hoping to find a secluded spot if this fight was really going to happen.

Billy chased after him and didn’t throw a fireball until they were clear of the houses. Steve barely dodged it, feeling the heat of the flames as they passed him. “Get back here! You should have never followed us!” he yelled at him.

Steve opened up his water skin quickly and drew out the water just in time to help dodge a fireball attack aimed at his chest. “I’m sorry that I heard and saw what I did.” he apologized watching Billy take a deep breath before kicking his foot out and throwing more fire at him. He was able to deflect with his water and counter trying to catch Billy’s foot to pull it out from under him. Billy quickly stepped to the right and threw out two fireballs. Steve covered his hands with the water and used it as a way to catch the fireballs and extinguish them. “Calm down!”

”You’re dead.” threatened Billy not planning on calming down and quickly jumped into the air with his hands and feet on fire as he tried to stomp on Steve. Instead of dodging Steve quickly made the water into a single stream and twisted his body to put more force into it as he threw it directly at Billy’s chest. Billy yelled out when he was hit in the chest and fell to the ground.

Steve knew he didn’t have enough water to freeze Billy enough so he took the time to look around for any kind of water supply, noticing a well about twenty feet away. If he could get over there he could definitely put a stop to this useless fight. “There’s no point to this fight, I get it, you’re angry and hurt but I didn’t do anything.” Billy clenched his jaw ignoring what he said and quickly jumped to his feet, staying low so he could swing his leg in a circle of fire at Steve. The flames he was producing were getting larger and a little more out of control. Steve could tell the difference from the fight he watched a few days ago and tried to jump back but he wasn’t fast enough. He cursed as he fell to the ground and felt the flames licking at his clothes as he rolled away trying to get as close as he could to the well. There was no time to really try out waterbending water he couldn’t see or let alone water so far in the ground but he had to try. Steve quickly looked down at himself glad that he wasn’t on fire except his shirt was singed and definitely not going to be worn again after tonight. “He’s an asshole and what he said was wrong!” he tried explaining hoping that maybe if he told him how he disagreed with Neil that he would stop but remembering how he threatened him only reminded him of the burns. “Did...did he cause those burns?”

”Leave it, Pretty Boy!” demanded Billy as he took a big breath before swinging both of his arms wide and in toward his feet to release a large blast of fire.

Steve jumped back and did his best to focus on the water he hoped...no, knew was in the well. He pulled the water up and out, almost too late as he felt the heat of the fire again. He pushed the water toward Billy cutting through the fire and covering Billy with water. Billy yelled out when the water washed over him pushing him to the ground. He ran a hand over his face and stood up with every intention to continue fighting. Steve took a quick breath focusing on the water before letting out his breath and freezing it. Billy tried to stop the ice with a fireball but Steve easily went around the flames with how much water was available and the ice quickly climbed up Billy’s body stopping just below his neck to hold him in place. Billy struggled against the ice breathing heavily and didn’t like that he had immobilized him. He wouldn’t let it last for long because he didn’t need his arms but he wanted him to be closer before he broke free. Steve carefully approached Billy not too sure if he should trust him having the upperhand with how closely Billy watched him. “I know I don’t know him well but I can tell you’re not like him. You never made me uneasy like he did and you don’t deserve to be treated that way.”

Billy rolled his eyes trying not to look so angry so that he could continue to trick Steve. “Stop pretending like you fucking care. Nobody has before and nobody ever will.” he snapped at him.

”That’s the thing, I do care. I’ve really liked talking with you even if you’re mostly angry the whole time. I’m glad I ran into you that first day I got here.” Steve explained still getting closer to him. “As hard as it is to believe, there are people that care about you.”

Billy was glad when Steve got within arms reach and took a deep breath before blowing steam out of his nose. The ice quickly melted and before Steve could react Billy punched him across the jaw. He followed it up with another punch, forgoing bending for now as he continued his urge to release his anger. Steve really didn’t expect for it to get to blows and his head spun. When it came to hand to hand combat, he really didn’t have any experience with it and he tried to focus enough to make a water whip but Billy shoved him to the ground. He groaned at the impact and really shouldn’t have liked it when Billy sat on his waist pinning him to the ground. “Leave me alone, I don’t want you around.” he repeated sitting up straight to try punching him again.

Steve was glad he pulled away enough to free his arms and quickly brought as much water that he could with the small amount of movement he had available to him to knock Billy off of him. He closed his eyes trying to get past the pain since he knew he couldn’t heal any head wound himself. He looked over at Billy who was running a hand through his hair and down his face before staring right back at Steve. “Are you done now?” he asked hoping he was since he never wanted to fight in the first place.

Billy felt calmer after that last blast of water and took in the damage he had done to Steve. Thankfully his face didn’t look too bad, a split lip maybe and even a bruise. When he noticed Steve’s shirt he got to his feet and headed over to him thankful that he didn’t get burned. “I’m done but it doesn’t change anything that I said.” he pointed out and began to walk away.

”Wait.” called out Steve moving to sit up enough so he could focus on the water leading to Billy’s feet and freezing him to the ground.

”Steve.” warned Billy glaring darkly back at him.

”I can heal those burns on your body. You’d have to come back home with me but it’s better than being here stuck with him. I don’t care if you think you don’t deserve my help or the feeling of being cared for but it’s too damn late. I like you and I want to help you. If you want those scars gone I can make it happen. I can get you out of here.” he said softly standing up and lightly rubbing his jaw, wincing when he felt the beginning of a bruise.

Billy didn’t like how stubborn Steve was being and he really didn’t like how he could feel himself wanting to believe him that he actually cared and he could get rid of the burns. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep.” he stated heating up the ice around his feet so he could get free.

Steve sighed heavily and set his hands on his hips. “I’m Steve Harrington, future Chief of the Northern Water Tribe. The Oasis in my tribe can heal any wound with its special properties. I wouldn’t lie about it and I wouldn’t lie about being able to get you out of here. I’m renting a place near the market we met, if you want to trust me then meet me there tomorrow morning. If you don’t show up I won’t bother you again.” he assured him and began to walk away so he could get some rest.

Billy knew that by the look of his clothes he would have money but he never would have thought he was a Chief’s son. He didn’t say anything or stop Steve as he left thinking about what he said and how much he should trust him. It would be nice if he could get out of here since it was difficult to get and keep money around Neil but the idea of being free of any mark left behind by Neil was his main focus. He set a hand on one of the marks and bit his lip before heading back home. _There’s no way it’s possible._

The next morning, all Billy could think about was the offer that Steve gave him. It was a chance to leave, Neil would have no idea where he went and the burns. Billy found himself staring into the mirror and looking over the burns for a long time before he finally got dressed. He didn’t want to trust Steve but there was a part of him that did anyway. Even if going to the Northern Water Tribe or wherever Steve really lived didn’t work out it would be better than being here. Billy walked out of his room just as Max was leaving hers.

Max slowly looked him over and spotted a couple of light bruises which definitely wasn’t something Neil would have left behind with how pissed off he was last night. “What happened last night?”

”None of your business.” he answered moving past her.

”It was about Steve, wasn’t it?” she asked not going to stop and followed after him.

Billy shot a glare back at her and headed to the kitchen. “I said none of your business.”

Max sighed a little and knew that they were okay to talk about it since Neil had already left and Susan had to go get groceries. “I know it wasn’t Neil that gave you those bruises so did you get into another fight?”

Billy shut the cabinet hard and turned around to face her. “Why can’t you just let it go?” he asked.

”Even if we’re not buddies or act like real siblings I can still tell when something matters to you. If you have a chance to leave with him you should. He’s obviously not from here and not planning on staying for a long time. You don’t have to stay here and keep dealing with Neil’s bullshit.” she explained to him not sure what Neil would do if Billy ever left but Billy wasn’t a kid and he had dealt with him long enough.

”You try too hard to be an adult, you know that?” he asked her knowing that she had been trying to be independent even before they finally met. He couldn’t blame her with the life she was given but she should take the advantage of being a kid.

Max shrugged a little, “It’s better than staying somewhere that only brings me misery.”

Billy sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Well maybe I like to be miserable.”

”You like Steve.” she smiled at him knowing that Steve was different because she had lived with Billy long enough.

”Oh? So I should just go home with him?” he asked her not meaning to tell her what Steve offered.

Max smiled widely at that and crossed her arms. “Go with him.” she urged.

”No.”

”Why not?”

”No, Max.” he glared a little at her.

Max glared right back at him and threw her arms up in the air. “Fine, then don’t be happy and away from Neil.” she stated heading back to her room.

Billy rolled his eyes and decided just to go out to eat that morning. He didn’t want to hang around Max who was just going to pester him until he got really pissed and he still wasn’t sure about what he wanted to do with Steve. As he walked around his feet ended up bringing him to the market that he was asked to meet up at. He looked around figuring he could at least see if Steve was serious about the meeting and then tell him no but when he spotted Steve, with a large bag over his shoulder he realized it would be difficult to do just that. Steve hadn’t seen him yet so he could easily just walk away and yet he still made his way over to him. “Leaving?” he asked.

Steve had finished shopping for two to go back home that morning by the time he heard Billy’s voice and smirked as he turned to face him. “Yeah, got enough for two to the Northern Water Tribe if you’re still willing to come with.”

”I never said I was going.” Billy reminded him and couldn’t help but focus on the split lip and ugly bruise on his jaw.

”I’m very optimistic about you coming with me. We can leave as soon as you’re ready.” Steve assured him motioning back behind him where a small boat was docked.

Billy really didn’t expect Steve to be this damn serious about him leaving and going to the Northern Water Tribe. He didn’t like how much Steve cared about him that he was willing to get him away from Neil while asking for nothing in return. He’s even going to take him to a place that firebenders have probably never gone before just to heal old burns. “You’re fucking ridiculous.”

Steve shrugged his shoulders, “I am but I wouldn’t have offered this if I wasn’t serious. I don’t want you to be stuck here any longer and I get it that it’s weird and really stupid-”

”You’re not stupid.” quickly interrupted Billy. “You care a bit too much but you’re definitely not stupid.”

Steve blinked a few times when Billy corrected him and smiled softly at him. “Alright then back to the main question, are you coming with me?”

Billy really liked how Steve smiled at him and tried not to think about how many times Steve was used to people calling him stupid. Okay, so maybe he was starting to care too much and crossed his arms as he looked between the boat and Steve before smirking. “Why the hell not?”

”I got stupplies that should last us all the way back home but is there anything specific that you need?” he asked him.

”Yeah, I’ll go back home to grab my pipe and buy more tobacco.” answered Billy turning around so he could go back home.

”I’ll wait here for you.” assured Steve setting the bag down in the boat and doing some last minute checks as he waited for Billy.

When Billy got back home to pack up his pipe and grab whatever money he had left saved up from the last job he managed to get, Max walked into his room. “What did I say about just barging into my room?” he asked her as he turned around to grab a couple more sets of clothes as well.

”I knew you were going to leave.” she smirked a little but it didn’t completely reach her eyes either.

Billy sighed as he crossed his arms and looked over her face. “You shouldn’t be sad about me leaving.”

Max huffed and crossed her arms as well. “I’m not sad, asshole.”

Billy smirked at that and finished getting his bag together before grabbing her shoulder as he passed. “Sure you’re not, just don’t get into too much trouble with those boys.”

”Try not to get beat up by him again.” she smirked not going to let him go without teasing him one more time if he was going to tease her.

”Hey, I won that fight.” he quickly snapped at her before leaving the house. Billy almost expected Steve to have left before he got back since he wasn’t used to having nice things in his life and tried not to show that he was relieved that Steve was still sitting on the boat and talking with someone docked next to him. “Are you always this popular, pretty boy?” he asked tossing his bag onto the boat and climbing aboard.

Steve smiled widely at that and stood up. “Always.” he said looking over the one bag that he brought and couldn’t really blame him for wanting to travel light. “All ready?”

”Definitely ready to leave this shit town.” answered Billy watching Steve untie them from the dock. “Will you need any help at all with sailing?”

”Like you know how to sail.” chuckled Steve and didn’t bother opening the sail right away. “But I’m more than willing to teach you in return for some hand to hand combat lessons. Can’t say I enjoy the bruise on my jaw all that much.” he stated as he began to bend the water around the boat so they could leave the United Republic faster than relying on what little wind there was that morning.

Billy winced a little at the thought of how much he had hurt Steve last night while the bruises he had were already nearly gone. “Why haven’t you healed that yet?”

”I can heal most personal injuries but when it comes to the head, it has to be done by another healer and it’s not like these injuries won’t heal quickly anyway.” he shrugged. “Don’t worry about it, it doesn’t even hurt anymore.” Billy nodded a little still feeling bad and tried to think of something else since they would be stuck on the boat for a while which he didn’t really think of before and now wished that he had. What the hell were they going to do for however long it took to get to the Northern Water Tribe?

Passing the time ended up being a lot easier than he thought it would. They talked about bending and Steve talked a lot about his home but never that much about his parents. If they were brought up, he’d talk about his mom and that was it while Billy refused to talk about his family unless it was about Max, he was slightly more lenient on that subject. Billy was also able to watch Steve waterbend a lot while it was either moving their boat at a faster pace for some time or just practicing here and there. The one thing he enjoyed the most was when they gave each other a hard time and he did his best to ignore how much he was beginning to like Steve. Billy really didn’t need that to bother him when he was enjoying someone’s company and actually feeling...happy.

When they finally came to the Northern Water Tribe, Billy really didn’t think that this little thing Steve and him had going would last very much longer. He came with the promise of getting healed but neither of them talked about what would happen after that. Billy wasn’t a fan of how everyone looked at him since the clothes he brought were all Fire Nation colors and even though the world was at peace he still felt paranoid. Steve docked the boat and immediately went to a store so he could buy Billy a warm coat. Billy was too busy looking around at the ice that they used to create their homes, stores and infrastructures to notice what he was doing. It was amazing even though he knew they used their bending ability to create it all. He was pulled out of his thoughts when Steve came back to him tapping his shoulder. “Here, this will keep you warm while we’re walking around. I want to head to the Oasis right away before my parents hear that I’m back. They’ll only slow us down and I want to make sure that gets done first.” he pointed out to Billy.

”Thanks.” he said taking the coat and following after Steve as he led the way through the tribe. Billy watched as some people waved at Steve and a lot of them acted surprised to see him. “So, did you leave without telling your parents?”

Steve nodded at that, “Yeah, I did. I wanted to see what it was like outside of the tribe and they didn’t want me to leave.”

Billy raised an eyebrow at that, “I didn’t know you could be such a troublemaker.” he smirked.

”You don’t know the half of it.” he smiled a little but he wasn’t joking either. His parents were definitely still mad at him about turning down the engagement and with him being gone for a while wouldn’t have changed a damn thing. “At least nobody will bother us once we’re in the Oasis since nobody knows that’s where we’re going.” he pointed out to him. Steve really wasn’t going to listen to his parents even if they told him no or that he should tell Billy to leave. He really didn’t want him to leave because while traveling he began to like Billy, a lot. Steve was having the same kind of thoughts and feelings that he had with Nancy and as weird as it was, he didn’t want to stop it. He would find a way to make it possible for Billy to live here or he would leave the tribe.

”I’m not going to twist your leg for information, you know that by now.” he assured Steve as they came to an area of the tribe that was a long walkway. The structure was different, more made of wood and clay than ice. It was strange and when they finally walked through the wood door, the temperature changed drastically. “What the fuck, it’s warm?” he asked Steve looking around at how green and unfrozen this part of the tribe was.

Steve nodded at that, “Yep, it’s the closest we can physically get to the spirit realm.” He walked over to the center of the Oasis spotting the Moon and Ocean spirit swimming together as always. He smiled softly and sat down by the bank of the water. “I hope you two don’t mind me helping out someone important to me.” he whispered softly.

Billy took his time following Steve as he looked over everything and took off the coat as he got beside Steve. “How many people actually come in here?” he asked feeling wrong the closer he got to the center.

”Not many, we only use these waters when it’s really important or need to pray to the spirits.” he explained motioning for Billy to sit down next to him. “Just take off your shirt and I can heal you.”

Billy spotted the two fish swimming in the water and took a step back. “I don’t think I should be here let alone let you heal me.”

Steve shrugged his shoulders and moved to grab at Billy’s clothes to pull him down anyway. “Like I said, it can be used for important reasons too now just fucking take off your shirt and sit still.” he demanded dipping his hands into the water and letting the water wrap around his hands. He looked over at Billy patiently waiting for him to listen to what he said.

”Stubborn brat.” mumbled Billy before taking off his shirt and watching as Steve laid his hands on his torso over the burns. Billy really didn’t feel any different but the glow as Steve began to focus on healing seemed stronger than before.

Steve did his best to focus since he had never healed anything like this and really hoped that it would work. He had only practiced on injuries that were recent and never years old. His healing still felt more powerful and he soon moved his hands to other burns and looked at the spots he had left. He smiled widely when he saw that the burns had been healed before closing his eyes to focus once again until they were all healed. Steve pulled his hands away making sure that all the burns were gone before returning what water he didn’t use. “Perfect, no more burns.” he smirked at him.

Billy looked over his torso and even ran his hands over the places that he was used to feeling raised and injured skin. They were gone, completely gone from his body. He clenched his fist over where the worse one used to be and looked up at Steve. “Thanks.” he said softly.

”You’re welcome.” smiled Steve really glad to see Billy relaxed and how he smiled a little in return. “I can help you get a place here if you want to stick around.”

”I really don’t have anywhere else I’d like to be and to be honest, you’ve grown on me.” he stated honestly not sure if he should have been that honest.

Steve smiled wider at that as he leaned toward Billy. “I’ve grown on you?”

Billy smirked licking his lips and glancing down at Steve’s lips. “Yeah, you have.”

”You’ve definitely grown on me.” agreed Steve closing the distance and kissing Billy quickly. He pulled away when he realized what he had done. “Fuck…”

Billy chuckled at that and wrapped an arm around Steve’s shoulders. “We could do that but we should really wait to see how your parents react to you being back here with a firebender.”

Steve slowly smirked and wrapped an arm around him. “I don’t care what they say.”

”That’s what I like to hear, pretty boy.” stated Billy kissing him again.


End file.
